Archives

LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – During the four regional sessions of the Pangos All-Frosh/Soph Camps this fall, a multitude of tall (as is 6-foot-8 and bigger) and skilled players from the Class of 2021 were on display.

But among the 600 or so sophomores among the 900-plus players in attendance at the West (Westminster, CA), South (Dallas), Midwest (La Grange, IL) and East (Thorofare, NJ) stops over September and October, there was no one quite like Patrick Baldwin Jr.

It was the third stop at the Midwest session for Baldwin (whose pops is the head coach at University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee).

[Click to continue reading]

BURBANK – The combination of the West Coast Elite program and Julius Von Hanzlik invariable produces some of the best “grassroots basketball in the west”, especially as it pertains to middle school-aged players.

And the duo delivered the goods again this past weekend at Burroughs High, which is darn-near located in the shadows of the ABC and Disney studios.

The “Elite 32 King of Kings” Camp provided a sweet showcase for some of the very best of the “barely teen-aged” set in the region and beyond.

[Click to continue reading]

EL MONTE – Chris James remembers all-too-well the fourth quarter of his St. John Bosco High basketball team’s State Southern Regional Division I final with Chino Hills in The Pyramid on the Long Beach State campus on March 17.

In fact, it’s been pretty much one of the very first things on the minds of he and his teammates upon waking ever morning since – including Monday, just hours before the 2018-19 season opened for the Braves at El Monte High against St. Paul.

Uh .

[Click to continue reading]

LAGUNA NIGUEL – The first week of the Southern California high school hoops season was highlighted by significant victories in quite competitive tournaments by Fairfax, Camarillo and Etiwanda.

The Lions came away with the title of the best of the events, the Ryse Williams/Pac Shores at Redondo Union High, highlighted by a semifinal victory over Notre Dame of Sherman Oaks and then toppling Bishop Montgomery, with UNLV-bound guard Ethan Anderson picking up Most Valuable Player honors.

Junior Camren Pierce was the MVP as Etiwanda knocked off then-No.

[Click to continue reading]

SAN DIEGO – The multitude of reasons why, in reality, the Sierra Canyon High Trailblazers should be considered the strong favorites to successfully defend their California State Open Division basketball championship were all on display Saturday night in front of a packed San Diego Montgomery gymnasium for the final game of the three-day San Diego Tip-Off Challenge.

Consider:

*Five of the program’s top six players from last season made up Coach Andre Chevalier’s starting lineup in the Trailblazers’ business-like 86-40 victory against a Saint Augustine squad that has a chance to be the second-best team in San Diego this season (behind defending Section Open champion Mission Bay, which returns every starter including Duke-bound guard Boogie Ellis);

*In seniors Scotty Pippen Jr.,

[Click to continue reading]